I’m not sure if it’s true for every FaffCamper or FaffConite but for me, when I see a Faff-event coming up in my calendar, it becomes a goal…a kind of joyous finish line for some of my marketing plans (you know, a marketing plan…it’s that written document that you need to…oh never mind).

As you know from past blog posts, I had a plan to redesign my business cards. I’d decided that FaffCamp would be the perfect deadline to have these cards ready…not really for the Campers, many of whom I’ve known forever, but for the Monday AFTER FaffCamp, so I’d be ready with the renewed marketing vigor that FaffCamp will imbue within me. The response of the recipients of these cards will be the true test of their efficacy…but I gots me a plan for that!

Branding-wise, I wanted to put a greater emphasis on the “Friendly, Neighborhood Voice-Over Talent” positioning that I created. audio’connell Voice Over Talent is still very much around but this freshening of my personal brand felt accurate from a variety of marketing perspectives; among peers and clients, the branding is getting positive reviews.

So I toyed around with some graphical ideas for the positioning and hit upon a look that I believed conveyed the feel of what I was trying to communicate while still staying true to the family branding equity that audio’connell has established for all these years. I’d focus more on audio’connell’s secondary logo mark (the “a.o.” as I call it) versus the full microphone logo to tie in with the positioning statement and new word mark.

Now in the world of business cards, I have a reputation to uphold (can you see how puffed out my chest is getting –no, it’s not some kind of allergic reaction)…after all, I get calls from clients and friends asking me for help with THEIR business card designs, so mine had better be pretty unique.

I liked the word mark design because it was minimalist (unlike my personality) but on a business card, that same quality that I prefer might just kinda sit there. While wondering (like, for months) what I was going to do to make this card stand out, I got my answer while recording at a studio in Toronto.

I committed a robbery in broad daylight AND in another country, no less.

Right there in the studio’s card holder on the reception desk: thick, heavy plastic card stock for a business card. Full color, two sided. Oh yeah.

The message via these cards to the creative community that I serve (agencies, production houses) is subtle, tactile and memorable. And it tells my story.

We talk about look and feel when we talk about design – I think (and maybe egotistically) these cards have a creative, professional and friendly look to them but their feel is substantial, durable and dependable. It’s a lot to ask from a card – but I believe it gets my branding and personal message across well.

Communication though is NOT in the transmission, it’s in the reception. You are welcome to give you pro or con opinion here on the new cards…but just know that I’ve got a lot of these new cards so if you hate them, you’re going to have to hate them for a while. ☺

Tags: advertising, branding, commentary, faffcamp, faffcon, logo design, marketing, voice talent, voiceover by peter k. o'connell, your friendly, neighborhood voice-over talent
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I remember video jockeys because when I came out of college, I auditioned to be one. (It’s OK to laugh but’s it’s unattractive and insulting to actually snort from laughing…even at something so ridiculous).

It was to this day (I think) the ONLY on camera audition I ever did (or can remember) and I think it was probably as awful a thing to watch as has ever been not broadcast. I quickly realized I had a face for radio (of course I didn’t do much in radio after that time either). We all do things we regret when we’re young…considering ever so briefly a life in front of the camera was one of mine.

But the network I auditioned for was VH-1…Video Hits One, the Adult Contemporary version of MTV and much like its big brother, VH-1 had no earthly idea how to use VJ’s in their programming. I recall Scott Shannon being a VJ at one point and Don Imus too (you thought I had a face for radio?! And Imus is STILL on TV…the attractive bar wasn’t lowered, it was buried there).

I think they too realized these radio stars weren’t cutting it on their channel and as part of a rebranding, they went looking for new personalities, of which I never became one.

All these memories came back to me when I saw that VH-1 recently updated it logo. My first reaction was “thank God” because whatever kind of bet was lost on the creation of it’s last logo, ANYTHING done after it was going to be a billion times better.

And simple as it is, the new VH-1 logo IS better. The tough thing with static shots of network logos is…on TV they’re never static….they move with grace or speed; with color or texture but they are rarely still.

The logo implementation is good, the look is better and the potential is great.

Tags: branding, commentary, logo design, marketing, video by peter k. o'connell, your friendly, neighborhood voice-over talent
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In the world of airline logos, there have only been a few really special designs.

One was from the defunct Pan Am, which you may have seen in the short lived TV series in 2012.

The other has been a logo that has been one of the cleanest, simplest and most recognizable logos in aviation, American Airlines. The logo, with its red and blue Helvetica font and modern eagle has been around since 1968 and even today was a timeless beauty of a logo.

Less lucky has been the airline itself, which is in the midst of a return from bankruptcy while at the same time facing a merger with U.S. Airways. The airline’s future is brighter than it was, but still not clear.

Nonetheless, coming out of bankruptcy IS a big deal, adding lots of modern amenities to your planes is also a big deal. So you might as well change the logo while you’re at…and the plane design.

So they did.

In branding circles, this kind of change is a BIG freakin’ deal. Huge!

My take? Look, I loved the old logo because it never looked dated to me…but I understand after 40+ years and a few court filings, the old AA needed a fresh look. This is a good one.

What’s really cool is the video that not only introduces the logo but the new plane design as well, I really like the look of the tail.

This change could NOT have been easy but I think the final version (without having seen it in person) looks pretty sharp. Take a look.

Tags: advertising, branding, commentary, logo design, marketing by peter k. o'connell, your friendly, neighborhood voice-over talent
8 Comments »

Besides being Buffalo, New York’s only baseball team, the Buffalo Bisons are a pretty well respected franchise among triple A baseball affiliates. The club is run by a strong ownership and management team.

Which is why I was so incredibly surprised by their recent logo catastrophe.

In 2008, the Bisons ended their long MLB affiliation with the Cleveland Indians and signed with the New York Mets. Mrs. audio’connell grew up a Mets fan so that change pleased this household to no end. I like the Bisons no matter what so I don’t particularly care who they are affiliated with.

However when I saw the new logo the Met’s change brought with it, I was thrilled! A major league looking logo! The team had looked Triple A for so long in its branding, I was pleased to see the upgrade and immediately went out and bought lots of merch!

Well unfortunately for a multitude of reasons, the affiliation with the Mets didn’t work out and the Bisons organization executed a change to affiliate with the Toronto Blue Jays. While not a baseball expert, I think this move will really work out well for the Bisons.

The bad news is the team must have had a covert logo design contest among area 7th Grade design students to help Buffalo create the Bisons new logo under the new affiliation agreement with the Toronto Blue Jays.

Yes, you are seeing correctly, the red, white and blue logo is the NEW logo…not an old resurrected from 1947 logo. That’s the new one.

Shockingly horrible, isn’t it. To call it fugly is to be complimentary.

Are you saying to yourself, why didn’t they just take the Mets logo and change it to the Blue Jays color scheme? I know I asked that question too but then I guessed there might be a legal thing with the Mets on the old logo and oh well.

I look at this logo in the same way I look at our city, regional and state governments here and I ask the same question: is this the best we could do?

Tags: branding, commentary, logo design, marketing by peter k. o'connell, your friendly, neighborhood voice-over talent
4 Comments »

Since about the age of 18, I have been an ardent supporter of Arby’s.

At UD, many days I would eat there for breakfast lunch and dinner and I still lunch there occasionally. So with all the money I have poured into the place, I have an unofficially vested interest in any branding change, regardless of your opinions of my eating habits.

So when I saw this hideous excuse for a logo change, I asked why? I asked it for two reasons.

1. The current logo describes very nicely the food and ambiance of the stores, especially the newer stores.

2. The new logo looks like crap. I tried to be more artful than that but words failed me.

The new logo is crap and it doesn’t matter what their new branding direction is – if the chain is not going to be Arby’s, then change the name and menu and move on. But if you plan on remaining Arby’s, true to the iconic nature of your brand (build with comparatively little branding vs. it’s main competitors in the fast-food area) then tweak the logo if you must.

Keeping the hat and changing the word mark in this way is more than a tweak, it’s a bastardization and if I was a franchisee with the looming costs involved in changing signage to this new craptastic logo, I would be pissed!

You can offer a differing opinion, but you’ll be wrong!

Tags: advertising, branding, logo design, marketing by peter k. o'connell, your friendly, neighborhood voice-over talent
4 Comments »

As you may know if you’ve read this blog ever, I can be somewhat obsessed with business cards.

Well as my branding recently changed slightly to be “Your Friendly, Neighbohood Voice-Over Talent” I decided I should update the business cards too.

So I did but I have come to a creative stumbling block for which your help is humbly requested and gratefully accepted (although it’s likely if I don’t pick your favorite, you’ll never speak to me again).

Everyone who has seen the front of the cards (the white side) really likes that design. So that’s staying.

But I came up with two designs for the back (both red versions) and I’m not sure which I like better (and I mean that sincerely, I do NOT have a fav, I like them both).

So please let me know from these two choices for the back of the card, which would you choose?

We will call the choices:

A. No Microphone (just red)
B. With Microphone

Thanks for your help.

Tags: advertising, logo design, marketing, silliness by peter k. o'connell, your friendly, neighborhood voice-over talent
34 Comments »